The TranscendentalistScriabin Preludes; Guirlandes; Rêverie;
Poème languide; Cage Dream; In a
Landscape; Wollschleger Music Without
Metaphor; Feldman Palais de Mari

Ivan Ilić (pf)

Heresy RecordsHeresy 015

64 minutes

Nothing to do with Liszt studies:
transcendence here means mystic, serene
and reflective. Surreal, too, as underlined by
the Dali-esque artwork and inclusion of two
John Cage pieces from 1948, using modal
scales with notes missing. The better-known
Scriabin interludes provide what concept-
creator Ivan Ilić considers links from all
these composers back to Chopin. He plays
them with exquisite touch and without
histrionics. At only 23 minutes, the Morton
Feldman is, by Feldman’s standards, concise:
his Second Quartet lasts six hours! Palais de
Mari is a good introduction to this
composer. Interestingly, there is also a piece
by Feldman’s ‘grand-pupil’ Scott
Wollschleger (born Pennsylvania, 1980). Part
of the manuscript is reproduced in the
booklet note.